Road to the Merovingian
by WGAnubis
Summary: Based on my character in The Matrix online game Merovingian organization.
1. The first step few steps

I was born in matrix year 1986 on the northern side of Mega City's Slums district. I was always the quiet kid, not many friends, maybe it was because of that one time... When I was about six, I was diagnosed with Diabetes but didn't find out till I was practically a walking skeleton. I remember hearing the doctor say that if they had found out later it would have been to late. Maybe that's what happened, I remember for a what felt like eternity seeing the world in a red haze. I felt like I was in some sort of liquid, like thick honey, I couldn't taste it but moving around in it was next to impossible. The next thing I remember is seeing a green blur, the images sharpened, it was like seeing strange drawings raining down, then they formed into shapes. It was terrifying. Slowly the drawings faded away and I saw my moms face, she was crying. apparently my body was so starved that it I had died for a few minutes. Luckily the doctors managed to revive me. I spent the next month in the hospital, first few weeks was nothing but feeding tubes, blood tests, and pain. 

Then the strangest week in my life happened. One night the nurse came in, only it wasn't her, she had something in her eyes. I couldn't describe it at the time, but now, it was like she knew more about this world then all my teachers combined. I remember she asked me what I saw, I told her, something about her calmed me down. I told her what I saw, what I felt, everything. She said something about me not needing a pill, that the world should always be questioned, not to take anything for granted, that one day she would visit me again. Then she left, before I knew it I was fast asleep. 

The following night I was visited by another person. He looked like a doctor, he reminded me of my grandpa, cold, like I never measured up. He has grey hair, he sounded like he was English. He was quick about his visit. He asked the same questions that the nurse asked me the night before, only difference was that he said I had a promising future. That a life of privilege waited me when I was older. Then he left.

A few days later three men visited me during the day. They reminded me of the guys that hung around with the Mayor all the time, or that would work with the police. He said his name was... Smith I think... I didn't like him or the two that were with him. Something about them made me scared of them. Smith told me never to talk about what had happened, that if I did, terrible things would happen. But that if I didn't, that a bright future was in store for me. Then they left.

As I got older my grades always would be slipping, ever since that one day, I could never believe what my teachers were saying. One day I got my first computer, my fathers attempt to get my grades up I suppose. I was fifteen at the time, quickly I learned about this man named Morpheus. Around this time my skills as a Hacker and aiming were above the average hacker. Nothing amazing but still I managed to pull a few pranks, turning the sprinkler system at school on basically whenever I wanted to. I admit that I did it once or twice right before gym, when we had to change to our gym uniforms... Whoa back to the story! 

Around that time I heard about this guy named Neo. Apparently he was supposed to be something like superman. I remember one day, I was looking out side my window, I actually saw Neo sitting down talking with a elderly woman. He seemed to be concerned about something, the next thing I knew the elderly woman left, and in walked Smith. I was like, whoa, this is strange. Then something I couldn't believe happened, another Smith, and then another, and another and yet another entered the court yard. I couldn't believe it! I watched Neo hold his own against the Smiths. Then it was over. The smiths began to leave the courtyard, then one looked straight at me. I froze, I couldn't breath as I watched him walk towards my building...

I panicked. Had Smith seen me? More to the point did he remember me? I didn't want to stick around to find out. As soon as I was sure that he was in the building I jumped out the window and ran down the fire escape. Nothing made sense. Was I dreaming? Pretty convincing dream if you ask me. I heard foot steps behind me. I knew it was Smith before I looked back, it was like I could see him. Sure enough he was there. I bolted. I ran for the closest subway I could find. Thank God the train was moments from pulling away. Just as the doors closed Smith was practically right on top of me. Only a thin sheet of metal and glass separated me from him. He had a smile on this face, it was so disturbing. He mouthed something, I think now that it was something like "I'll be seeing you soon." Just as the train started to move. Looking back I don't know why he didn't just force the door open. He could have without even blinking.

I practically collapsed right then and there. Looking around the train didn't have a lot of passengers. Most of them paid me no mind, one however did. She was beautiful. To beautiful almost to be human. How right I was. For a few stops all she did was stare at me, those eyes, it wasn't like she was afraid, repulsed, or anything. It was more like she was waiting to see what I would do next.

"Mr. Bonness..." I froze, that voice, that voice full of a superiority complex. I turned my head, slowly. Five Smith's stood at the far end of the train car. Why, why was he after me! They slowly approached, I stood up and backed away slowly, keeping an equal amount of space between me and... them. I heard something that sounded like key strokes behind me.

Then out of no where red lightning struck the five Smiths, not killing them but they seemed stunned. They didn't move, like they were paralyzed or something. Someone grabbed my arm, before I knew what was going on there was the sound of glass breaking, the feeling of falling out of the train at a high speed was rather unmistakable. I don't remember what happened next, when I came to I was looking down at a moving ground, someone had thrown me over there shoulder and we were quickly moving down a strange hallway. There were doors constantly being ran past as we moved. "Um..." 

"Oh your awake." The voice of female, she put me down, grabbed my arm and continued running. A few minutes later she opened a door and we ran in. We were in a club, I think I heard of this one before, it was known for its rather, strange, dress code. 

She lead me threw the crowd, most of them gave me a strange look, like I was instantly given respect for something I couldn't remember. We walked up a set of stairs and were greeted by a strange couple.

"Ah, and who do we have here mon cher?" the man asked. His accent was definitely french.  
"This is the blue pill that Flood found." Blue pill? What's a Blue pill? 

"Oh oui oui maintenant que je me rappelle, Flood told me all about you. Apparently everyone has an interest in you, as they all do with your kind." The man with the French accent said. 

"My kind?" I asked.

"You see, mon jeune ami, you woke up without needing a pill. If it weren't for the fact that you were brought back at the hospital, you would have been out of the matrix."

"The Matrix?"

"Oh le doesnt sourd-muet de débile savent même ce qu'est ce nom de  
lieu... I wont go into explaining the meaning of the name. Just know that for the time, the outside world is not a pleasant place to be. You may, "Hang out" here for a while." 

So, while the outside world was being taken over by Smith, I was safe...

So here I was, sitting in a, club, supposivly safe. Ever since I entered the place I had felt isolated for some reason. It wasn't the fact that I wasn't part of this "crowd" or that I didn't know what was happening to everyone out side. A few hours later the club was goin at full swing, I was just a little disturbed at some of the things I saw. Not that they went against my values and morality, but rather that things seemed to defy physics in this place. Before I had worked up enough courage to ask the woman that had "saved" me what was the deal three armed people stormed the place, demanded to see the Frenchman and went up to meet him. A few words were exchanged and then the woman some how managed to get a gun on the guy.

The last few hours were fairly normal, if that's what you would call what was happening normal. Then without reason I fell asleep.

The next thing I remember was waking up in my bed. Had I dreamed it all up? Some nightmare. Then, the nightmare became real. A few days later, a woman approached me and asked if I wanted to know the truth. She offered me a red and blue pill and told me to choose one. Naturally I choose the red or else I wouldn't be standing here telling my story now.

I woke up to a long forgotten dream. The red haze was all around me, I pushed up, ripped the cords from my body and took my first real breath. Most people would think that real air for the first time would be something to remember, if anything I wish I could forget it, the smell and taste in the air was putrid. Then the machine came and unhooked me from all the machines. It left me dazed and confused, if it weren't for that I would have been able to hold on and keep from being sucked into a disturbing water slide. I remember feeling like I was drowning, then I saw a claw come down for me.

"Welcome, to the real world." a women's voice said.  
A few months later after they rebuilt my body seeing as I never used it, I got my first look at Zion. I wasn't impressed. But after being told about the war with the machines I figured I wouldn't be here much.

"No, Anubis, the war is over. We are at peace with the machines now." a man named Lock said. Peace, with a bunch of tin cans that still wouldn't let us on the surface, not that it was desirable being a barren graveyard. In other words, the machines would leave Zion alone as long as we stayed in the hole in the ground. The dream seemed more attractive then being awake more and more.

One day I had returned to the matrix, I felt horrible. Here these "blue pills" were living in blissful ignorance. But I couldn't, wouldn't go back. I didn't want to go back to Zion, they were content digging there own grave. The machines were out of the question, I wanted to turn them all into crushed pop cans. So that left me with only one choice. As myself and the crew I was added to went about mindlessly trying to wake up more blue pills in the slums I snuck away. These were my stomping grounds, I could here them running around, looking for me. I just walked away and they never saw me.

I spent the next few days meeting exile contacts and running missions for them. I didn't know what to do, were there other red pills who like me didn't think that the truce should have been called? Then one day I ran into her again. She brought me back to that strange club. Their the Frenchman gave me a choice to work for him. His organization wasn't bound by some silly truce, there were plenty of other red pills who felt the way I did. And so, I became an Exile. Hated by the machines for leeching off the energy that was rightfully the human races. Loathed by the Zionists for betraying there head in the clouds ideas. Im not like other Exiles, I don't want power, I want everyone to wake up and realize that this truce is a facade. Until the truce fails I shall continue to kill every agent, every machine that I see. Maybe one day Zion will wake up from their day dream and realize the real truth.

I still don't know why the Merovingian wanted me to join his faction so quickly. Maybe I will find out eventually.


	2. The General and Invalesco

They were everywhere, the gangs had been long since replaced by these, fake, repulsive, wanna-be's. Fake Agents, Imposter Agents, whatever you wanted to call them. They were everywhere. They ignored all the blue pills and concentrated only on us red pills. No matter what organization we were in, Machine, Zion, or even Merovingian, we were all equal game for them, and they were all equal game for us.

I dodged a fist, took one in my back, flipped over one of them, shot one in the head sending his limp body to the ground. They were everywhere, but rather easy for us to take on if we kept our whits about us. "Lets see what this batch had."

I emptied out their pockets, some might think that sort of thing was defiling of the dead. That would be the case, if these were human to begin with. $info, a few guns I could pawn off or try to decompile... hmm, what are these? They were like nothing I had seen before, code fragments in the shape of floppy disks. Written on them were a few words and a set of numbers, RSI Frag 1.3, 1.9, 1.5. What were these? Some sort of new code fragment that the coders would want? No, it felt like something more, something almost human about them nearly vibrated from them.

I read a few of the desks in a safe place, away for the fake agents, away from the other red pills, away from those that served my own master. They were like pieces of thoughts, incomplete. They reminded me of someone's last thoughts, like someone who knew the end was near.

"Interesting..." with that, I headed off to my next mission, leaving the fragments in my coat pocket for the time being. Later that night a meeting was called somewhere in Appolyon, a meeting for all those that followed the Merovingian. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary, he just commanded us to go and do our job. Little did we know that there was going to be a shake up, just to keep things interesting.

The N3O Agents. Different from the others, they were like twisted versions of the Zionists savior. They had a strange glow about them, but they were no harder to kill. With each one that scattered their code to The Matrix the stronger I became. Who was controlling these programs though? It was simple, a new program had come to The Matrix, and his name was The General.

We only knew a little about this new Exile. Him, like so many before him, and so many after him, had been displaced by this new truce. Instead of returning to the source he chose to come here, to The Matrix. Did he want to start the war over? Fine by me for starting the war over again, maybe it would get Zion to wake up and get there heads out of the clouds. But it would have to be on my bosses terms.

No one had seen what this, General, looked like. All the contact, if you would call it that, that we had of him was in the form of threats, threats to all of us that we had no choice, that we had to leave The Matrix. What arrogance, who is he to think that he can command us to do whatever he wanted from afar. Even our boss would come down to us to give us commands. This, program, had yet to prove that we should fear him.

So here I am, killing more of his minions. Its rather a good stress reliever. Slowly these N3O Agents are starting to disappear from The Matrix. Maybe a sense of normality will return. Normal, who am I kidding, The Matrix is anything but normal...

Invalesco

Crossroads. Even in the dreamworld they are real enough. One day you could be walking along, minding your own business, the next you get jumped by a gang of lupines and blood drinkers. It started out an innocent enough day in the matrix. My crew, part of the La Costra Nostra division, had met in the Uriah Industrial Park. The area was out of the way, forgotten by red pills, blue pills and programs alike. A perfect place for those that didn't want to be interrupted could meet. The rain started to fall. How strange, that this dreamworld seemed to reflect that something was about to happen. Rain, why does it always bring difficulty, hardship, issues. The first one appeared in front of me, a scrapper by the looks of him. At first I didn't know what to do. We had gotten reports of other Lupines and blood drinkers being spotted in other parts of the city, generally they didn't attack those that were part of their organization. Apparently these guys didn't get the memo.

The first one lunged at me. I didn't need to get orders from my leader, Tavien, to open fire. I didn't care if this dog on hind legs was with the Mervingian, I wasn't about to let him rip out my neck for the fun of it. I aimed, and fired a silver bullet straight into its head. He flew back, only to stand back up and come after me again. "Well that was a waste of code."

He swiped at me with his claw, I dodged him simple enough, I had learned how to slow time for a few seconds, just enough to dodge his attack with ease. I caught the mut of guard as I sent my leg into his face. The sound of bone crushing was satisfying to my ears.

"Silver doesn't work on these mutts." I shouted to the others. Have you ever wished that you could take back something the moment you said it? I know I did, the moment those words left my lips several other lupines jumped in around me. "So this is how you want to play it."

Limbs were flying. Attack. Defend. Retreat. Fire. No matter what we did, they kept coming, there was no end to them. I admit I was enjoying myself, it was like a test of skill, to see who would fall first. The program or the man. Then fate decided to step in at the worst time imaginable.

Everything slowed to a crawl except for me. A lupines fist, that was once flying at my face was frozen in space, a mere inch away. I stepped back, everything was frozen. Then everything went black. I awoke to my operator standing over me, the rod coming out of the back of my head. "What the hell happened!"

"Hardware failure, if I didn't pull the plug, you wouldn't be coming back again."

I slammed my fist into the chair in frustration. "How long until you can repair the equipment?"

He was silent for a minute. "A few hours."

"Damnit!"

Several hours later I was able to jack back in. Bodies were thrown about the area surrounding the area. Both Lupine and Blood-drinker alike. I walked around several of the districts by myself for awhile, no sign of my comrades or the ones that had turned their back on the our boss. I wondered into Manseen district a few hours later, a mistake on my end unfortunately.

It didn't take the local blood-drinkers long to smell my blood code, the weakest of there bunch had the gull to come after me, well, looking back at the time I was pitifully weak in comparison. I ran as fast I could, bending the laws of the matrix to allow me to run faster then a human should, to the closest structure that I could think of. Ironically it was a church, even more ironically it was the blood drinkers hideout. I thought I was surely dead, but then I head familiar voices, my friends.

Carefully I walked into the main room, half paranoid thinking it might be a trap. I was surprised to find so many of my fellow redpills here. I found members of my own faction, La Cosa Nostra there. They told me what had transpired, needless to say it was shocking and felt like something out of an old vampire story.

Invalesco, a exile long since imprisoned by the frenchman, was finally released. He had an offer for those that would follow him. Immortality. In exchange, four simple items and a "willing" recruit. Maybe it was a good thing now that we didn't find out what would become of those that agreed to come with us.

My factions leader quickly called a meeting to discuss what we would do next. Such a tempting offer, who wouldn't take it? We had to act fast though, the next day we set about getting together what we needed. It wasn't hard, but rather the wait proved to be annoying. I think I spent about ten hours sitting in that place before Invalesco showed himself. But it didn't matter now, we were about to become immortal!

He selected the first of us, Lady Return. Such an honor, to be chosen by him first. The ceremony started, and was brought to an abrupt end by Invalesco's own brother! The exile actually had the gull to call upon those who sold their souls to the devils themselves, to the machines. Gunfire erupted in the small church, fists and legs flew as each side tried to kill the other. It was madness, one side fighting for immortality, the other fighting for the pleasure of disrupting the plans of those that chose not to side with them. Then it happened, Invalesco killed his own brother. We didn't have time to celebrate, other members of Invalesco's clan quickly descended upon the building to take vengeance out on one of their own for the slaying of another one of their own.

While we distracted the infernal machinists and other blood-drinkers, Invalesco made his escape. Both those that sided with him and those that wanted to kill him were in hot pursuit after the fleeing blood-drinker. He was fast, not many could keep up with him as he made his way from the barrens to the international district. Almost like magic he disappeared among the buildings. Magic to those that don't know what the matrix is, simple program alteration to those that did.

Slowly we disbursed, both exile and machinists went their separate ways to lick their wounds and wonder what the next day would bring.

It wasn't until later had we learned of what happened to our faction. Our leader, Tavien, had fallen in battle. It was like someone had taken the soul of our faction and ripped it apart. I wonder now if he hadn't died if the outcome of those events would have been different. Needless to say our faction suffered the worst. Our spirt was indeed broken when word had come down that Invalesco and been found and staked by a machinist no less. But the worst for me was yet to come...

I had betrayed the Frenchman, a grim fate awaited me, worse then the others I was sure of it because of what he had done for me. He had taken me in and I had betrayed his trust. So I wasn't surprised when several of his closest guards jumped me. I woke up on the ground, "oh no..." I moaned as the throbbing music brought me to my senses.

"Oh no indeed, mon jeune ami, oh no indeed." The French accent was unmistakable. Slowly I opened my eyes and sat up. The Frenchman sat on his couch looking directly at me, his face betrayed agitation.

"What to do with you, Anubis, what to do with you. The others I can forgive but you, you I took into my domain and gave you safety, I gave you a place to exist, to destroy the machines when Zion would not. And this is how you repay me you stabber peu arrière!"

"I..."

"Silence!" He looked at me for a moment, as if trying to figure a fitting death for me. At the moment that I thought he was going have one of his guard come and kill me his face softened.

"But what should I expect from a human? Don't worry, mon petit ami, I don't plan I killing such a gifted talent."

I looked at him with confusion in my eyes. He wasn't going to kill me? "Your letting me live? Your not going to punish me?"

"oui, I will let you live, but I do think that your treachery does deserve some punishment... take him."

Before I could say anything several guards grabbed me from behind and dragged me away. They took me into a back room. I thought I would just get a work over, a few broken teeth that would reappear when I came back in, nothing to serous. I should have known better...

Tattoo's, who would have thought that he would have such a twisted sense of humor. A giant cross on my face, dragons along my arm and covering my back now exist on my body. After they were done they told me these would forever bind me to him. I would have no escape now if I wanted to leave now. I can feel the tingle in my body even when I jack out, the change to my RSI, they code that they used was more then mere coloring, but indeed was a binding program to him, now I cant refuse him. I was waiting for when that price tag would come along, but I guess I got it easy, in a way...

La Cosa Nostra translated means This thing of ours, while I was in this faction it was sort of like the mafia, close family connection sort of thing.

Sorry for the delay in posting this, college finals and a few RL issues came up that prevented me from publishing this latest chapter.


	3. Anubis' gift

Note: This is my log of a small player event that my current faction partisipated in. (La Costra desolved and not that much happened between the last chapter then now)

The Devils Advocates Strike: Anubis' gift

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This is the truth. This is the truth of science, of the world, and of the actions of man, exile and machine. I am of a rare breed. During my childhood, for one brief moment I self sustained. I was awake, no red pill used. In turn I returned to the dream world changed. I had no idea of my value until now. Now I understand why when I made the mistake of betraying my master the Merovingian that he didn't have me beaten or killed. Instead, the tattoos that now adorn my body are a binding program to him. But that is another story that will be told later, now is the account of one of the gifts that I was given, amplified by my tattoos and link to my master. You see, the one that was known as Neo was not all the unique. Yes he had all those abilities, but for those of us that were able to self sustain, an error was written that gave us one of those abilities. Mine was the ability to alter code, within limits of course. I could only alter the code of an RSI when it tried to jackout of the system, and of course they have to be semi "willing" for me to use the ability. But that in it's self is a powerful tool. This is the account of when I used my ability on the one known as Delinquent…

I was part of the team that had delivered the message about Delinquents situation. I knew my master was watching threw my eyes and heard what was said and spoken with my ears. I enjoyed watching them squirm and make there idol threats until the surrendered to the truth. The cause was that Delinquent's life hung in the balance and the effect was that they had no choice but to do as we commanded. After the delivery I escorted my team to a hard line and watched them leave. I was content with just going back to the sphinx and listen in on the reports, my job done.

But my master had other plans; he wanted to see if I was worth the effort. A quick call and I was standing outside of the building that the prisoner was being held at. It was a local hideout for the exiles that didn't care for even my master. Most of them were no match for me and remained out of my way, in return I spared them, taking note to return later to, reeducate them about my master the Merovingian.

"The queen of lies herself!" someone shouted as I entered the final stretch of the hideout. 'Ah, must be the prisoner.' I thought, or was it my master's thoughts? It didn't matter much anymore whose thoughts they were; we both wanted the same, to see if I was worth it.

Walking over I opened the swinging doors and took my place among my faction, one of my masters most loyal followers, The Devils Advocates.

"Stand up maggot." Return commanded, obviously the insult I heard down the hallway was aimed at the Lady.

"I've altered the programming in this room, he's stuck to the floor." Rhaokoth said before flipping a switch. "Now he can stand, only stand."

Standing up, Delinquent looked defiantly into Lady Return's eyes. For a moment, they just stared before she slapped him, hard, across the face. "pregnant dog!" Delinquent said in recoil.

"Get back down. Rhao, did you have to make him take off his shirt?" Return asked.

"I thought it fitting... besides I needed to inject him and I didn't want to touch his delicate arms…" Rhaokoth replied, a grin that only the slightly unstable could have.

I walked around him a few times, eyes always on him, he was sitting down again, the alteration that Rhaokoth had made to the room back in place. "so, this is Delinquent, pitty. I would have liked to have done battle." I commented, he wasn't an impressive specimen though he would suit my needs.

"You have me here, ask your damned questions! Not that you will have any answers from me…" Delinquent said defiantly. Oh we would get our answers, but not now. I continued to circle him like a shark sizing up its next meal.

"Your death will be enough for us." Return replied to the prisoners claim.

"Tell me, do you care for the one that was taken back to zion the other day?" I asked, still circling him. I had gotten his attention but it seemed that he didn't care enough to answer. "No?"

"The killcode she carries is more valuable, but what does that have to do with anything?" Delinquent sneered. This must have been what Dracula in Stokers fable felt when a mortal tried to attack something what they didn't comprehend or knew the danger of. I'm sure in time, when word of my gifts become known, that I will be feared for my abilities, maybe even hunted.

"Ah, so her life is worthless then?" I asked in place of an answer to his question if it had anything to do with this.

"No, just not worth as much…" Delinquent said.

"Zionists... so easy to stab one another in the back. And to think, we're the "treacherous" ones." Return commented. It was true, I had seen so much backstabbing by the Zion factions that it was no surprise that there organization was like a shattered mirror, so many factions with there own agenda. Why cant they just serve one master like us?

"Ah, so she is easy to replace?" I asked him

"But she is worth less than the ability to kill at will." Spindrift, my captain commented.

"What I know will destroy you faster than any code you could pry from her." Delinquent proclaimed.

"You value destruction more than a human life." Spindrift responded

"More than 1 million human lives." Return added.

"What do you expect, I am a trained killer." The prisoner responded to the accusing of being inhuman. There was laughter from all around from my fellow Advocates. A trained killer he may be, but here in the matrix only those with the ability to remove the emergency jack out procedures are the true trained killers.

"You are a coward is what I think, you should thank us. We're the only ones keeping the human race alive." Return responded finally to Delinquent. At this point I took a seat directly in front of him. I had his attention; the opening had been drawn now on the wall of lies that Zion had built around his mind. Lies that blocked the truth from being easily told. As I sat he flashed Return an evil glare to what she had said. It didn't matter at the moment, the wall of lies was still strong in him.

"So, her life is more valuable, over some programs that you want to kill? You want the power to kill the exiles? Last I checked they did not make war on you."

"The matrix should be destroyed. . ." he stammered. The wall was starting to flake, it didn't hold as much luster as it once did.

"And the cost? A young girls life?" I asked.

"With it will go the human race." My captain added.

"We all die, it only matters how one lives." Delinquent said. That was a truth, but it could be made to point in any direction once it was applied to the conversation.

"So, you will kill The Blue?" The Blue, it was what I referred to those that were still in their pods. To me, they were innocent, they were children, and they had no idea about the real world only a few feet away from their real bodies.

"Is this an interrogation or a recruitment campaign?" Delinquent spat. He was smart, I couldn't use innocence anymore, I had to change tactics to get that door to open, but I needed to make the change carefully, if I just changed the subject completely he would realize it and might resist completely.

"Are you willing to bathed your hands in the blood of millions? Of perhaps billions?" I asked, the ultimate question that even a cold-blooded killer would have to think about. In the past, men have bathed their hands in hundreds; maybe thousands of people's hands and history took little note of them. But no one wants to be remembered by history as one that took countless of lives.

"What tricks are you up to, Anubis?" he asked. He was looking at me directly now, he didn't understand why an exile would care for something like life. A tyro typical thought among the Zionists.

I chuckled, "Nothing, just asking you if you are willing to kill the innocent… millions just so a few thousand can "live"."

As if on cue my faction added there own little questions to mine.

"In a blasted world…"

"In a hole…"

"A world you don't even know you can hope to save…"

"Look, I can tell you're intelligent, unlike most of Zion. Surely you must realize the ancestors world is long gone. Six hundred years is a long time wouldn't you agree?" I said to him.

"As any true Zionist would answer, you wish I would say yes, don't you. And if I said something else?" pain was in his voice now; the virus that was infected on him was taking hold more and more.

"The ancestors are not gone, I have seen the proof, I have touched their soil." His mind was grasping now. Trying to figure out where I was leading him.

"Tell me, have you been to the redwood forest in the matrix? When you were a blue?" I asked. Good, he didn't notice the change in subject.

"No. .." he admitted.

"Oh there a beauty. The first time I saw them it took my breath away. How about you guys?" I asked my fellow Advocates.

"Never been there."

"Never had the opportunity, unfortunately…"

"Nope…"

"I'm not a tree hugger." Return said. That got a few chuckles from the faction.

"Remind me to take you one time Return. Anyway…"

"You hug trees of the fleshy variety to get your way, witch!" Delinquent shouted.

"Hey, it pays. In both fun and in information." Return replied, she would never let someone get the better of her.

I ignored the interruption and continued on. "Have you seen any trees in the real?"

"No, I have not. I have only seen fossils." He admitted. Pain in his voice hinted again that the virus was working more and more.

"You understand that the tree is critical to humanity. It exchanges the air and removes the toxins in the air and water." I said, recounting the science text that I learned when I was still but a child. If only my professors could see what the real world was like now, they would have a heart attack…

"Until SOMEONE killed them all… Project Dark Storm..." Return added, losing herself in the memories of the archives she dove into not that long ago. It was time to start to hit him with question after question.

"What about a whale? Hell, what about a pup, seen any in the real?"

"I have seen a bird, a single hawk souring high over what was once Mexico." He answered.

"Yes, a few animals have survived after all this time... but what was lost can never be returned in the real. Did you ever have a dog as a blue? or a cat?" I asked him.

"So you kidnap me, drug me, inject a deadly virus into my body, all so you can debate if life can survive on the planet once more? You are dumber than I thought." Delinquent proclaimed. 'You have no idea what is in store for you…' I thought

I chuckled at what he said but continued on. "you know, my mother took in stray dogs…"

"I bet you were one." He jabbed. That was foolish of him.

"Actually in a way I was, orphaned."

"Crap." Return said. Everyone turned to see what had caught her attention. "My watch stopped. I think it needs a new battery." Return answered their gaze slyly. Delinquent was starting to look nervously around, how much time had actually passed?

"Anyway, I haven't seen a single dog or cat in the real, have you guys?" I asked. A few comical answers ensued. Plenty of rocks, lots of rats, and more rocks were some of the responses

"Only you…" he was glairing at me now. He really didn't have any idea.

"My point is, and I believe your fallen hero said it best. What is real? How do you define real? Is it real because they said it was?" I asked him. They were valid questions. It wasn't a surprise when he abruptly changed the subject. He very beliefs were being questioned and he was forced to sit there and listen.

"Home IS where the heart is." Delinquent said uncaringly. Okay, he wants to change the subject again, let's us what he gives me. What better then to take what they give you and use it against them.

"Indeed, The Matrix used to be your home, and its home to billions others… exiles and humans alike." I replied to his statement.

"All of the lives you would destroy…" Rhaokoth who had been silently observing his creation at work added.

"Have you walked past the schools here? Looked at the children?" His response was exhaling deeply from the pain that the virus was now inflicting to his mind and soon his body in the real world.

"Yes, the children. To think, some day, those pretty girls will grow up to be beautiful women." Return said. I didn't want to ponder on what she meant by that.

"Oh so soon now... I can see your RSI starting to dwindle Delinquent. Is it fun for you?" Rhaokoth. I admit, Rhaokoth does sometimes enjoy his work just a bit too much. I wont argue with the results though.

Delinquent glared at him for the taunt. "Bite me!" he shouted. The result he got was blood flinging from his mouth as he spat the words. The virus was now taking more affect in the visual aspect of the RSI shell.

"In a way, all the blue are children… tell me, would you kill a child in cold blood?" I asked him.

"I already have, what would stop me from doing it again?" he responded, daring me to lose my cool and hit him.

"So you have killed some children. Will you increase that to a few billion? lord knows that's how many are in the field." I asked. Bringing up the morality card again in a different form.

"I will fight until my last breath, I promise you that." Delinquent responded in a defiant tone. His eyes showing the virus was working on his mind more and more, it looked like he wanted sleep.

"Your last breath will come quicker than you think " Spindrift replied in a threatening tone.

"I know you all had a hand in Morpheus' death. I know that you all tried to stop the destruction of the matrix by aiding the assassin. You seem to be concerned over life. If we let loose the code bomb then we can reset the matrix, we can return to our past." He seemed to be rambling now.

"We could... would you like the pain to relieve just a bit?" I asked him, already knowing the answer to the question.

He gulped, seeming to fight with himself not to answer the question. In the end his body won out. "Yes…"

I looked over to the mad doctor. "Rhao, could you give him just a bit of morphine?"

"Heh... I sure can." Rhaokoth replied as he prepared a needle.

I turned back to Delinquent, a slight smile on my face. We had won in this little war. "Just a little bit."


	4. Dark Force

Note: This was not ingame but rather an RP tool that was created to add confrontation in the real world. It has sence been used in one other story by a fellow faction member. This is also an on going side story.

Time: 01:30 hours  
Location: sixty miles away from machine power plant. "graveyard"  
Crew: The Terror Squad

The Terror Squad sailed silently out of the mechanical cave. The modifications were perfect, even the few sentinels that were nearby that would typically hear them continued on there business.

'Good.' Anubis thought to himself as he watched from the observation deck. 'A few more test runs and we will be able to implement the modifications on the advocates home barge.'

Reaching for the comm he spoke. "Proceed to the 'graveyard', lets get this salvage operation underway." A second later the operator responded. Anubis watched from the deck, the cold air passing by as he continued to eye the sentinels. Without warning one of the mechanical killers pulled up along side the craft. Slowly it flew along side the craft, trying to figure out why its sensors could not detect the craft but at the same time its visual cameras viewed the machine.

"What will you do..." Anubis whispered. No fear in his voice, his cold eyes watched the machine as it approached the exposed deck. The machine was only a few feet away from him now. He didn't flinch as the machine came within inches of his own being.

"Hello." Anubis said cooly. Sentinels were animalistic in nature. If they had organic sensors Anubis was sure that it would be able to smell fear like the pets that the ancestors kept. As a blue, his mother would save dogs from the street, from the pound, anything. He had learned not to show fear to anything. If death came for him who was he to argue? The sentinel pulled back a few inches, its red eyes began to blink rapidly. No one had ever responded to it before, let alone greet it.

"Well then, on your way." Anubis finally said to the interrogative machine. "Just a glitch in your machine sensors, move along..." The machine seemed to accept the explanation and quickly left. And why wouldn't it, in the matrix everyone knew his face, but in the real, his face was different, only his crew knew what he really looked like. To the real, he was a nobody. And that was perfect. Most reds didn't know or didn't care to keep their RSI altered. It gave him an advantage over others, if he was ever in a situation where someone from the other side saw him, he would not be a dead man on the spot.

"Sir, three minutes until we reach the grave yard." The pilot said over the comm."

"Very good, once we arrive, set down and have the captured scavengers begin to locate what we need." Anubis replied. The craft slowly settled down on the metallic ground with a soft clunk. Not nearly as loud as another craft would have made, another modification to the Terror Squad that he was personally proud of. This craft was the perfect staging ground for upgrades to the advocates growing fleet.

Today was slightly different as he watched the small spider like machines run around the piles of old ships from the ancestors, rusted out hauls and of course, one the grave yards new arrivals, the logos. The machines continued to scurry about as the collector was launched. Another one of Anubis' creations, the collector resembled a sentinel with about thirty or so more manipulators, several of which were dedicated to metal cutting lasers, a hover pad base to compensate for the extra weight it could take on, and a robotic head. The AI that controlled the collector was created by the ships operator.

The small spider like machines began to chirp and blink at the collector as they found their targeted objects. Hover pads, outdated machine bodies, a large pile of blue pill holding pods recently replaced by a newer model, the list went on. The collector began to perform its duty, its manipulators picking up hover pads before returning to the ship to deposit them. It continued like this for about three hours before the holding bay was full. Time to return to the barge to begin work. If they managed to pull this off, the advocates would have a strong advantage over the other organizations and factions.

The Terror Squad power up and lifted off the ground, a silent behemoth, in its belly a chance to protect their bodies in the real...

Time: 06:00 hours  
Location: one mile below surface, unknown location, Devils Advocate Home hover Barge.  
Crew: The Terror Squad

The Terror Squad sailed towards the home barge. The sight of it was breath taking. Anubis couldn't claim creation of the ship, that was a combination of the intellects of the founding members of the Devils Advocates. A floating city, it could support eight hover craft at once for whatever reason. It was circular in design, the crafts landing pads on the outer most edge of the barge. Several buildings composed of salvaged material's rose up from the barges base. The towers housed crew quarters, raw material, food processing, one housed the barges equivlant Giant transparent holding vats of glowing red goo were seasoned threw out the whole of the barge, the power storage tanks. Ten in all, they provided power to the barge, its systems, and the hover crafts when they needed to recharge. An eerie blue glow from below came from the hover pads that supported the barge.

The barge moved like a lumbering giant, slowly passing threw the larger of the tunnels. It was unmoving now, the barge had arrived at a refueling port of the DA's construction for the giant behemoth. The refueling port leeched off the machines power supply, several of such ports existed, spread out to avoid detection and all were placed within the giant tunnels for the barge. One stop provided the barge and the hover crafts it supported with about two months of power, provided that the E.M.P. cannons did not need to be fired.

The automated cannon system instantly locked onto the Terror Squad before the operator transmitted the clearance code, allowing the craft to come within range and land. Instantly the mechanical cranes on the barge began to unload the craft of its recently acquired cargo of parts.

"Anubis, find everything you needed?" Anubis turned, it was his commander, Kabell. "Yes sir, most of the critical parts we managed to salvage, we will need to construct a few items ourselves. Power cells, cannon barrel, a few other things, but the fighter prototype should be up and running at the end of the month."

"Very good, I look forward to seeing what you come up with." With that, Kabell turned and left. Anubis watched him leave for a moment before turning his attention back on the cranes. If this really worked, they would be able to defend themselves against virtually any attack made by the other organizations. Time, all it took now was time.

Time: 20:00 hours  
Location: one mile below surface, unknown location, Devils Advocate Home hover Barge.

"Final check complete. System primed. Fuel cell fully charged. Weapon load out at 100. LCF flooding complete. Activating hover pads. System ready." The voice in the construct chirped. Anubis felt himself begin to float, due to the cockpit construct. The system was designed to allow even a novice pilot to control the fighter.

"Activate sensors." He commanded. An instant later the endless white room transformed into the grim look of the tunnels. He was floating two meters off the landing pad, or rather the fighter was floating off the landing pad. Anubis looked around, making sure that the sensors were properly translating what they saw and placing them in the construct. It was strange; everything seemed to have a haze of red to it.

"Adjust the hue, it's a little too red." Anubis said, a moment later the fighters AI adjusted the images, everything looked correct now. "Good, save alterations as standard."

Looking around some more he saw fellow members of the advocates. What they saw however was the fighter. Anubis' body was once again in a pod though this time of his choosing. The fighter was the result of the recent trip to the graveyard. The cockpit was a blue pill pod, the fragile glass had been removed and in its place metal had been used to shield the pilot from weapons fire. The solid ammo cannons, giving it a tucked in look to it, flanked the cockpit on both sides. The fighter had a total of fourteen hover pads supporting it. Four on the bottom, two on the left, two on the right, two on the top, three acting as thrust and one at the nose of the fighter for breaking. The body housed the power cell, food, and an antenna so the pilot could enter the matrix as well as other weaponry and electronics that made the fighter fly. The bottom of the fighter, in-between the hover pads, was a weapon scoop. This allowed the fighter to pick up solid ammo magazines while still in flight, allowing it to remain in combat.

A pilot could remain in the fighter for forty-eight hours assuming the fighter didn't have to go into attack mode. An intravenous feeding tube was hooked to one of the medical plugs of the pilot, supplying energy. A facemask was then attached to the nose and mouth, providing the correct air mix or anything else. Finally, LCF, or Liquid confinement fluid, was released into the pod to provide protection to the pilot from sharp turns or any G-forces the fighter might experience during combat situations. And for final protection, more so that the technology would not be captured, a miniature EMP device and explosives were planted threw out the fighter to effectively destroy anything of value of the machine. "How does it look captain?" Kabell asked over the comm.

"Not bad, it feels strange though, wherever I look the controls for the fighter stay in view. I feel like I myself am floating without any help from the fighter." Anubis responded.

"We have done as you asked captain, ammo packs have been placed at various locations, they are suspended in the air by hover pads so you should be able to pick them up." The operator informed Anubis.

"Good, launch the sentinels. Time to see if this fighter is worth the metal we made from it." Anubis watched as several sentinels quickly launched and fled the barge. After the war in the Zion docks, hundreds of sentinel bodies were left. The machines had abandoned them, Zion found no use for them, and found them to complex to salvage. After deciding what to do with the sentinel bodies that were left behind, they took the bodies into the tunnels with the few remaining hovercraft they had at the time and dumped them all over the place. Naturally Anubis had found one such dumpsite and after repairing the electronics, removing the AI and receiving antennas back to 01 they had found the perfect test drones. Had they found more or if the sentinels weren't alarmingly easy to destroy in small groups they would have been used as defense weapons for the Devils Advocates. That was the problem though, the sentinels depended on overwhelming numbers, acting like a swarm of bee's to take down their prey. In groups of 10 or less, a single Zion hovercraft could actually destroy them. Of course that would happen long after the sentinels relayed the crafts location to other sentinels. That was what made even one sentinel controlled by 01 so deadly, if you managed to destroy one, chances were that it sent a single to its buddies.

'Three, two, one.' Anubis silently counted down. The fighter took off; the construct even provided wind that whipped at his face. He glanced at the floating interface displaying the radar. He could see the sentinels had gained some ground even now that he pursued them. 'faster.'

The fighter obeyed Anubis' mental commands. Glancing around, Anubis' wondered if this is what a sentinel felt. Flying threw the tunnels at speeds not capable of even the legendary logos. A tight turn came out of no where, pulling left, or rather willing the fighter to pull left, Anubis easily avoided the wall and continued on after the sentinels.

"Targets confirmed. Sentinel target drones. Ten in all." The construct reported.

"Activate weapon inventory. Display arsenal." Anubis said out loud to the fighters AI.

"Arsenal: standard twin solid ammo cannons. Two short range missile shells. Eight defensive anti sentinel lasers. Six EMP hover mines. Warning, use of defensive anti sentinel lasers will drain power cell if used over three minutes." The AI responded.

"Remove Warning. Load twin ammo cannons."

"Confirmed. Cannons online."  
"Lock on to the sentinel that I point at. Create fire trigger interface for left hand." Anubis ordered. This was just a test run as well as creating alterations to the program on the fly. If the fighters ever had to be launched for real the interfaces would be automatically loaded by the pilots specifications.

"System ready." Anubis took a look at the sentinels fleeing from him. Once again he reminded himself this was just a test of the system. The sentinels would be coming for him if this were real. Selecting his target the interface displayed a circle and best firing solution for the selected weapon. He pulled the trigger, and nothing happened. Pulling the trigger again gave the same result.

"System, report." Anubis commanded, clearly agitated. "A file for firing the weapons is missing, attempting to recreate missing file… Done."

Pulling the trigger Anubis was rewarded with the sound and sight of the fighter firing on its target. He quickly dispatched seven of the sentinels. Before he could move on to the remaining three a proximity warning went off. "Warning, enemy hovercraft detected. The signal they are putting out reveals it to be a Zion hovercraft. Transmissions reveal it to be the 1st Zionist Infantry."

"Send the destruct code for the test sentinels, land and go into standby mode." Anubis commanded. The test sentinels quickly shut down, falling towards the ground like rag dolls as the fighter slowly descended towards the ground. Instantly everything execpt for life support and a few of the video feeds went offline. Anubis watched as the lumbering craft floated threw the tunnel. He was able to see the cockpit for the craft from here; he could even see a few people in the seats as the craft floated overhead. If he wanted, he could power up and attack. But now wasn't the time, everything had its place in the grand plan. Right now he couldn't afford the presence of the fighter to be known to Zion.

Finally the craft left the area, powering the fighter back up Anubis returned to the home barge. Not everything had been tested, but there was always tomorrow. Soon, soon the Advocates would have their defensive weapons to protect themselves from anyone who would do their bodies harm.


	5. Dark side of the triangle

Note: Character development. All chapters have been posted on the MXO boards first if you play MXO I am on Regression and so post the stories there first.

Back info: A few times here and their I've had to explain my characters unique condition. In essence, it's like a triangle, 3 sides make up the whole. There's the host (David). The will (Merovingian). And the binding program. All three of these make up Anubis. This story is about the binding program and a back-story for how I managed to level so much (saying XP boost just isn't as cool as having something like this). Be warned, it's a tad dark for my writing, even my stories in the Hellsing universe, which deals with vampires and gore are not like this.

((Second warning: Dark))

"Meeting adjourned." Kabell finally said, the meeting was another dull update on the affairs of various organizations within the matrix. The Devils Advocates had recently become more powerful, Zion has become more annoying and the Machines were hidden but ever present as always. Anubis didn't care about any of this. Something had been building up in him for some time now, it had started as a distant feeling in his gut, like a hunger that would not be satisfied but could be dealt with. Recently however, it had grown considerably.

After the meeting, he had walked over to the bar and pulled out one of hidden bottle of absinthe. Taking a gulp of the chilled liquid he felt the distant hunger dull slightly. Something about this particular liquor code helped, but it was like band-aid, it didn't stop it, just bought him time. That was what scared him, bought him time for what?

"Anubis, are you alright?" looking up from his forth glass he saw Renshi next to him, a bit of concern in her eyes. She was one of the few from his old faction that came with him to the Advocates when La Costra Nostra was collapsing.

"I'm fine Ren, just thinking about what's been happening lately." Anubis lied. Would she understand what he was talking about if he told her the truth? Probably not, even she didn't really have much of an idea of what he was, hell he didn't even know what was going on with him so how could he expect her to understand what he was feeling.

"I think ill go for a walk, clear my head a bit." Anubis finally said as he stood up, filled a flask of absinthe and pocketed it.

"I'll come with you." Renshi said, following him to the stairs leading to the upper floor of the Sphinx. "Na Ren, need some time to think by myself."

"Are you sure?" Renshi asked, concern hidden in her voice. Anubis was never one to drink much; he always had a flask of absinthe with him, but only took it out every now and then, and even then just a few sips of the stuff for a buzz, hardly enough to get drunk.

"Yeah Ren I'm sure, don't worry I'll be fine." He reassured her as he left the club, heading for the hardline to take him to a random location so not to be followed if she persisted.

\\\\\

Anubis found himself in South Vauxton. An area of the city for the middle to upper class to live out their lives in the matrix, all in all not a bad area filled with parks and what not. Pinging the area, he smiled as it returned with only blue and gang. The moon was rising, full and in its entire splendor. Letting his feet decide, he set off in a seemingly random direction.

As he walked, he felt more and more distant from his RSI. Like he was more a viewer then the pilot within his own body. It didn't feel bad, like he was drifting off to sleep. Like the blissfully filled space between being awake and being asleep, where nothing mattered, your body was relaxed and you were just drunk on the feeling. Even the hunger seemed unimportant to him now.

Eventually, he made his way to the apartment complex in the area. Something seemed different now; if it weren't for his glasses, someone would easily see his eyes were glowing red. Silently he walked towards the elevators and pressed the button for the lower level. His eyeteeth extended as the doors parted, showing a group of exile programs hiding out in the basement.

"Hey, what are you doing here little man."

"Lose your way?"

"Doesn't matter, he wont be making it out of here." The group advanced towards Anubis just as he slowly advanced towards them. In that instant, Anubis jumped forward, tackling into the closest of the group, instantly breaking the exiles left arm. Taking hold of him by his shirt he threw him towards the others.

"What the hell! He's a red pill!" One of the less damaged exile shouted as he leveled his gun and fired. The bullets hit their marks, but didn't faze Anubis as he walked towards him. The exile continued to fire into him, no blood, there wasn't any blood flowing from his wounds, even red pilled bled, why wasn't this one.

Knocking the exiles gun away Anubis punched him squarely in the neck, pain showed on the exiles face as he fell to the floor. He could sense that they were decompiling now. No, these wouldn't be allowed to recompile, standing in the pile of bodies he began to take deep breaths, their code entering his body. Finally, their bodies completely disappeared, having turned into code and consumed by Anubis. More, he wanted more. Heading deeper into the hideout he continued on. Feeding off the code of those he killed.

With every exile he killed and absorbed, he felt their strength, their knowledge enter his body. Felt it merge with part of his code, making him more and more stronger. The hunger was slowly disappearing with each kill, that was what pressed whatever that possessed him to continue.

He didn't use his side arms, submachine gun or rifle to depart his food, no, he used his fists, his feet, anything that he had that was part of his body. As he went deeper and deeper the screams of those he had taken echoed down the hallway, prompting the others deeper in the hideout to come together to defeat whatever it was that had invaded their territory.

Opening the doors, Anubis looked down the hallway, fifteen of them all stood, their guns drawn. Breaking into a full-fledged run he entered the swarm of exiles. Kicks, punches, the sickening sound of coded blood and bodies hitting the floor echoed repeatedly in the hallway where the massacre was taking place. Finally the last body fell. The code that flowed all around him was blissfully intoxicating.

Opening his mouth, he let the code flow into him; he felt his body grow stronger and stronger still as the code flowed in. If the exiles fed on the floating feast then this had to be a concentrated version. The code slipped down his throat like the softest wine in the world, its flavor intoxicatingly ecstatic. He wanted more. The hunger within him demanded it, demanded him to continue on. Who was he to deny its commands?

The elevator doors opened as he stepped out, this was the last floor. Only the strongest in this hideout were allowed to be on this level. Here, here he would find the purest of the code in this dank hideout. Someone must have radioed head, for as he stepped forward; he was greeted by several of his supposed level. Leaping forward, he grabbed the throat of the poor bastard that was closest to him. While still in mid air he threw him into some rusted machinery, the sounds of crushing metal and coded flesh music to his ears.

Turning to the others he took his time to dispatch them, one tried to crawl away around a corner, only to be dragged back to its death. The sound of bones cracking echoed a moment later. A few minutes after the one sided battle Anubis walked around the corner and down the hall. He took his time as he walked down the hallway. There was nowhere for his prey to go.

\\\\\

Lupin paced the floor franticly; his two guards holding their weapons in hand nervously watched the door. The first report from the top floor that his gang controlled reported a redpill had come in, and made short work of his men but would be no match for the next level. A few minutes later that level reported the same red pill had ripped their ranks as well before the transmission was cut off. The other floors failed to report in, most likely trying to mount a defense against whatever force had come into their territory to remove them permanently.

Just as he thought the suspense was about to kill him itself he heard the sounds of gunfire and shouts in the stairwell above them. One by one the shouted stopped abruptly. The sound of a body hitting the door and sliding down sickened him. Whatever was out there, made him realize that this was his final moments in this place.

The doors opened, in walked a man clad in black and red. His face smeared with code. The sight sickened him as he and his guards opened fire. Lupin watched first hand as the being took out his men one by one, sucking out the code from their bodies and growing stronger. Finally the two faced each other alone. His men laid there for a minute before disappearing completely.

"What the hell are you!" Lupin shouted, the gun in his hand shaking. Anubis only approached, a maniacal look in his face. "Stop, ill give you whatever you want. You want my coat? Here take it!"

Lupin threw his coat over at Anubis, only for it to be cast aside. His red eyes glowed hungrily at him. That's when it hit him.

"Oh god, you. You're supposed to have died in the fourth instance!" Lupin shouted as he pulled the trigger on his gun. The bullets having no affect on his target as Anubis continued to advance. "Come on, ill give you anything you want!"

Lupin's back was against the wall now, literally. He knew what he was facing, something that terrified even the exiles. A program thought to have long sense been terminated. It was made by the machines to clean the matrix of all the exiles and absorb their resources to be brought back to the source. The only problem was that it used the resources it obtained and 01 wanted those. Reclaiming programs were sent after it when it refused to return, only to be claimed by the program and integrated into its code.

Eventually the program was captured by the Merovingian, altered, compressed, and hidden away. Apparently the Merovingian decided to bring it out and put it in this red pill. The last thing Lupin saw was a fist flying towards his face.

\\\\\

Anubis walked out of the back room. Not quite sure how he got their though having an idea. Marrith had most likely gone into code lust. Anubis sighed in relief that it had been an exile hideout not loyal to his master. He felt stronger now, like his strength had doubled several times. Abilities just out of his reach were now obtainable, he felt that things would not be as harder as they once were. He noticed that the hunger had receded quite a bit as well. It was still present, though not as demanding. Looking up at the sky he saw the sun begin to break.

((Okay, bit of explaining is in order about Marrith... but that's not going to happen until the next installment.)) Read and Review!


	6. Chapter 6

The name Cypherite or, masked men, has been added to the list of other terms such as Judas, traitor, Benedict Arnold and other names and terms meaning betrayer. But we tend to forget the seeds of this weed now strangling us all who were chosen wisely and carefully and where this weed is headed now.

Zion, the only organization that has an active focus in turning the blue into the red. During the war, most likely threw all of its incarnations, Zion was very careful in who became a red, a "freedom" fighter. This process usually entailed a period of observation of the potential. During this observation, the reds watching said potential would closely moniter how well the subject accepted The Matrix, if the subject completely believed in the "false" world then the reds would move on to another potential and no harm, to both the red or blue would be done. However, if the subject displayed a questioning of this world known as The Matrix then they would move to first contact.

First contact would be done any number of ways, the most notable of first contact would be in the case of Thomas Anderson encountering Trinity in a still unknown club. This was followed by second contact, a phone was delivered to the subject in which the communicator, in this case was Morpheus, instructed Thomas Anderson in how to evade capture (which in this case proved futile) and eventually how to meet them for his extraction.

After extraction, the newly created red would be subject to medical procedures such as removing of the hardware plugs the best they could and the rebuilding of the atrophied muscle structure. Then came the "orientation" in which Zion would tell their side of the war.

After the war in this era of truce we now live in however, Zion seems to have abandoned the practice of carefully selecting minds that could withstand extraction but had a desire to leave in the first place, rather they seem to hand out the redpills to whoever seems curious and the results now speak for themselves.

As a result of this new awakening policy, a large percentage of reds that should never have been awakened now walk among us unable, or unwilling to accept the fact of the real. They now have a seemingly uncontrollable desire to return to the matrix and have it as if nothing has happened. They have done some rather unspeakable crimes such as the destruction of entire hover barges, assassinations in the real, and countless others. All in the name of returning to the matrix.

However, a very strong, and every major question must be addressed and that is how do they intend to return to the matrix in the first place? Their spokes person, Cryptos, when he speaks hints strongly of machine ties. Preaching making their beds and whatnot, this leads me to believe that an alliance between the machines and cypherites exists or, the leadership of the cypherites has been misleading it followers into believing that there is a way to return.

If a alliance exists, then the question of why comes to mind. Why would the machines agree to allow the cypherites back into the matrix after killing, attacking, and what not? One possible answer is that Zion continues to draw from the blue population at an alarming rate that the machines seek to slow it down by using the cypherites as a sort of secret canon fodder, attacking Zion and attempting to draw them away from awakening so many minds. Or they may attempt to slow down the rate of energy loss by reinserting the cypherites, though this view is less likely as it would only serve as a very temporary measure and the return would most likely be slim to nothing at all.

The other possibility of the cypherite leadership misleading the followers seems more and more likely when one considers the situation of a typical cypherite. They want to return so badly and not remember a thing that they are willing to do anything. This opens them up to a charismatic leader or leadership that promises them that they can return to the matrix in exchange for the above mentioned acts of terrorism.

In closing, while the source of the cypherites is and continues to be Zion, their future may quite possibly lay with the machines. If this is indeed the case, then the machines have already broken the truce.


	7. Chapter 7

This was meant for Christmas but I never got around to writing it in time, being sick and family coming over.

WGAnubis, a left hand of the merovingian, captain of the Devil's Advocates Terror Squad, self sustained, engineer, biologist in his spare time, murderer. He was many things, but he knew honor, he knew rights and rituals that every man must do, even if they are unspoken. He sat in the back seat of the vintage Rolls Royce, one of many of his masters treasures, though being loyal to him completely, and being mentally bound to him, he was allowed to take it out every now and then. The black car silently drove down the endless streets of the city, like a ghost flying in the snow, people saw it, but a second later it left their minds as they busied themselves with last minute Christmas shopping. Anubis didn't have any need to do such useless tasks, after all, at the heart it was just code and if he needed to, he could recreate the most priceless of diamonds, the strongest of cigars, the best of the liquors with just some code.

"Driver, head to Daley ave. and be quick about it." Anubis said. The driver only nodded and proceeded to head to the new destination. The driver, though he appeared to be an elderly old man was in fact a trusted program of the Merovingians. Skilled in transporting people and objects quickly and effectively he was the exile of choice when something needed to get from point A to point B with no questions asked.

Anubis looked out the window of the car as they continued on their way, the snow reminded him of his youth, his innocence, before he became what he was today. He sighed before closing his eyes.

Anubis awoke with a start, his instincts were to reach for his magnums or strike whoever was assaulting him, luckily, for both parties, he saw who it was. The driver had arrived at the requested location and came to awaken the passenger. "Thank you."

The Driver only nodded, Anubis couldn't remember if he actually had ever heard the exile speak, though it didn't matter now. As he stepped out of the warm interior of the car and into the cold snow he looked around, he hadn't been here for nearly five years. Walking up the hill he looked around, the place was strange at night with the snow fall, the trees were without leaves and not a sound from the city surrounding the place could be heard.

At last he found it, brushing the snow off the cold marble he looked down at the engraving and then up at the statue. An angel with open arms, legs bent slightly, wings pulled back, its face was soft even though their was no detail within the eyes as if the sculpture had forgotten that little bit of his job. The snow strangely did not collect on the statue but rather at the base of its bare feet on the pedestal it rested on. If he didn't know about the matrix he would have said that it seemed super natural that this "messenger" of God was untouched by the falling frozen water. Looking back down at the smaller monument he read the inscription to himself. "Alan Bonness, beloved husband and father. "I went to see God, I'll be back later."

Anubis chuckled, his father had been a pastor for the longest time, it seemed only fitting that such an inscription be put on his tombstone, he would have laughed if he was still alive to see it himself. Taking his black suit hat off in respect he bent down. "Dad, if you only knew, if you knew what this world was, would you have done things differently? Would you have blamed me for the choices that I took? Would you forgive me for the blood that is on my hands?"

Anubis sighed, stood up and looked around. Everything was silent, nothing living was around him, exile or otherwise, and so, he dropped his facade. A soft glow emanated from his body as the tattoo on his face disappeared, his eyes shifted from yellow to light blue. His facial features changed, going from a hard chiseled jaw to something softer though no less handsome. His hair faded from blood red and spiky to brown and messy. Taking his glasses off, he looked down on his fathers grave for the first time as he truly appeared in the real.

Looking to his right, he read the name of the tombstone beside his fathers. "Catherine Bonness, beloved wife and mother. Born and died a fighting woman."

Anubis had a rule, the past should remain in the past. They were in his past, buried their by his own hand, but tonight was special. Tonight was the night that he came to pay his respects to the two people that put up with him and loved him all the same without question. And for that, this was the least he could do. He could come here, drop the false face that his enemies and allies knew, feared and hated and say the things he needed to say, do the things he needed to do.

After saying a few things under his breath he took a few things out of his inside coat pocket. One was a single red rose, that he laid gently on his mothers grave, the other was a cigar, one of his fathers favorite brand, that he lit, took a few puffs, and placed it carefully on his fathers tomb stone. The scent of the burning cigar began to spread threw the air surrounding the graves. Memories of finding his father in his small office in the apartment, with a cigar in his hand or mouth with him hunched over the bible reading and marking passages for the next service came back to Anubis like a tidal wave.

Whenever he smelled that scent in the air he knew his father was home and when he was but a small boy, he took comfort in that. The Rose, he remembered his mother had box gardens full of them hanging from the windows, they were her favorite flower and always seemed to bloom on command. He wondered briefly if his mother knew a bit about the matrix, maybe subconsciously, and that was the secret to her trick with the flowers.

Then that night came, both of them taken in a single night by some random person. After that, the smell in the apartment of the cigars seemed to disappear, the roses seemed to wilt away all to quickly and never came back. His world had changed so fast, to fast. One night his family was perfectly together, the next, it was just him and his sister. Shortly after that, he was saved by the Merovingian from the Smith army, his sister, he didn't know if she was lucky enough to hide someplace or if they had gotten to her and she simply was reset with the rest of the blue pills after the incident. But after that, his luck began to change, for the better or worse, it was a step up then being pennyless, about to be kicked out by the landlord and have no family.

Getting up, Anubis put his glasses back on, once again, he Facade took over and the man that was kneeling before the graves in respect disappeared once again. Turning he walked back down the way he came, he left no tracks coming or going to the graves.


End file.
